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Roundup 600 - August 6 - Entries due Sunday August 3 at Noon Pacific

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Posted January 13, 2025

What is Roundup 600?

Every week the NoLimits 2 team searches YouTube and creates a top 10 list of the best NoLimits 2 videos found that week. Beginning with Roundup 100, we started making it an annual contest to submit the most amazing works for the chance to be featured on one of the Mega Roundup lists. Honorees have received prizes for placing on these lists. Check out the jaw dropping amazing work from Roundup 100, Roundup 150, Roundup 200, Roundup 250, Roundup 300, Roundup 350, Roundup 400, and Roundup 450!

What are the rules?

The rules are fairly simple: Build an amazing coaster or ride experience in NoLimits 2 with great scenery fitting some kind of theme or story, film the ride, edit the video to music, then post it to YouTube unlisted and fill out the entry form.

Some more rules:

  • You may work in a team, though only one prize is awarded
  • The coaster/ride experience must be your own work. You can't take someone else's park/coaster and film it to call it your own even if you get permission. (Note: you can download & use free/shared/commercially available scenery files...just give credit where due)
  • The coaster/ride experience should not have been released before - new work please so there's a surprise when your video comes out!
  • Videos should be 3-5 minutes long. Yes you can make it shorter/longer, but keep it captivating.
  • Please include the full ride experience in your video.
  • Scenery should cover all of the default terrain environment. Remember, you only need to build what the camera sees, but we will see plain undeveloped default flat terrain and it won't look that good.
  • Please don't show off all the surprises or full POVs of your work. Keep it secret until the list is revealed - the surprise is more fun!

How do you judge the results?

All entries are judged on 3 main categories:

  • Quality of the Ride Experience
  • Quality of the Scenic Design
  • Quality of the Presentation

Ride Experience looks at what the finished ride experience is like. Is it fun? Does it flow well? Does it tell a story? Your creation does not have to be the biggest, flippiest, fastest, launchiest, anythingest. In fact, a well themed family coaster has taken the top spot before. A key aspect of this category is the theme or story told by your ride. Thematic elements should have a purpose for being there, and with a short amount of time on the ride it's important for the theme or story to show very efficiently. Cool coaster alone is nice, but let's give it a reason for being and take riders on a journey, not just a ride.

Scenic Design looks at the quality of the scenery surrounding your ride creation. We consider foliage (if present), lighting, sets, animated objects, special effects, sound effects for the ride, surrounding area visuals, and everything else built to be part of the attraction. The best attractions seem to take us to a different place. The scenic design is the stage on which your attraction performs and should compliment the theme or story of your ride. Rocks and trees and lakes have been done, a lot. Transport us to some place different. Can be modern, futuristic, space, fantasy, even abstract or just plain weird. Make sure your background visuals support your story and do not distract with empty undeveloped green space.

Presentation boils down to video editing. This is a video contest, so your finished video should be sharp, well edited, and feature lots of great shots that capture and hold our attention. Music selection is just as important as the music should underscore and support the emotion of the ride experience. Ideal length for a video is 2-4 minutes. You of course can go longer, but it becomes increasingly difficult to keep long videos interesting. Less is more. Note, please include a full POV of your ride. Also note, we don't need a walk through of your queue nor do we need a full uncut ride up the lift if nothing happens other than going up (see captivating).

Great! How do I enter?

Entry form: https://forms.gle/v6KDSgZKxcjroPtf9

FAQs

Can I work in a team?
Yes! Only one prize will be provided however.

Do I have to make all the scenery/scripts/textures myself?
No, you can download pre-built scenery, scripts, and anything else you need to fulfill your vision. Please give credit where credit is due to the original creators.

Can I show off what I'm working on?
Yes - but keep the ride experience a surprise. We really want that magical moment and amazing reactions when people see your video for the first time when the Roundups are announced. Showing a screen or two, even a limited video teaser, is fine. When you show a full POV of your attraction you leave no surprise for the Roundup reveal. That is why we ask your finished video to remain UNLISTED so that your finished ride experience is revealed the day Roundup 600 comes out.

Can I use copyrighted music?
Yes you can! Important Warning: Make sure that you can actually use it. We've seen entries that the music was stripped out because the copyright did not allow it to be used on YouTube. Our best recommendation is to upload a test video with the music you want to use and then see if there are any restrictions. Most of the time the restriction is that you can't monetize the video but you can use the music. Sometimes the music can't be played in certain countries. On rare occasions the music can't be used at all in any form. It's best to figure this out BEFORE you spend a week editing the video to that specific music only to learn it's been removed from your video.

Last time there were only 7 winners? How many prizes will be awarded?
Correct, in Roundup 450 only 7 honorees made the final list. Roundup 600 will have a minimum of 5 honorees on the list, with a maximum of 10.

I have more questions

Ask below!

-Ride_Op

Posted January 13, 2025

Over the years we have seen amazing projects deservedly win first place in this contest. These huge projects have taken anywhere from months to years to complete. They also make it seem like it's impossible to win so why even bother to enter?

That's not the right way to look at it. The goal is to just make the list. Everyone that makes the list is a winner and honored with the same prize. The bar to aim for is the rides that have come in at the bottom of the list, not the top. Check out this list of the 10th place winners from all of the Mega Roundups. If you can put together a project of this quality, you have a chance to place in Roundup 600!

-Ride_Op

Posted July 10, 2025

Quick update on Roundup 600: To make things easier on the judges and avoid a super late night, entry cutoff is moving back 12 hours to Noon PT on Sunday, August 3rd.

-Ride_Op

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